The report comes via The Commercial Times of Taiwan and claims that the Chinese Original Design Manufacturer – or ODM, for short – is conducting a trial production of the Surface Phone. It is important to note that the same ODM worked on Surface Studio with Microsoft, as well as helped out Apple with the iPhone.

Pegatron has also worked with Microsoft on the Surface Pro 2 – so the companies have a bit of history to share.

The Surface

These new rumors have added even more confusion to the situation; the new rumors do not suggest a release date for the Surface Phone, but only that it’s apparently being produced as a trial.

Of course, this could only be a prototype exclusively for Microsoft employees – we might get to see this mysterious device at the upcoming CES or MWC events next year; if the device, however, is good enough to be put into production – then how far is Microsoft into the phone’s development?